self-portrait

[DanK]

A Vivian Maier I will never be, but I thought this was fun. I was in a sculpture garden, trying to get photos that are more than snapshots of sculptures, when I came upon this semi-mirrored structure. C&C welcome, as always.

[William W]

I like it. The 'semi' mirrored surface adds to the appeal, mystic.
I also like that you think it was fun. I get that. Shop windows and curved chrome surfaces in street scenes comprise part of my fun.
The B&W choice in Post Production (i.e. not colour) suits the Photograph.

WW

[DanK]

Thanks. I'll post the SOOC image below. The color was definitely a distraction. This was a bit of an experiment. It needed a fair amount of local adjustment, and a few years ago, I would have finished it in Photoshop. But given the huge improvements in Lightroom masking over the past few years, I tried doing it entirely in LR. Between the subject recognition and the ability to add to and subtract from masks, it wasn't hard to do in LR.

[billtils]

Dan, I never thought I'd say this, but I prefer the colour version! That apart, nicely imagined and executed.

[DanK]

Bill,

Here you go: a color version with the same edits and two more.

Lightroom makes this incredibly easy. I created a virtual copy with all settings other than the profile (B&W), so all of the local edits were copied to a new color version. I then desaturated the distracting yellow leaves, first by using the color mixer and then by selecting on the color and narrowing the range a bit. Took virtually no time. I didn't clock it, but probably two minutes at most.

Dan

[William W]

Dan, I never thought I'd say this, but I prefer the colour version! That apart, nicely imagined and executed.

haha - I love it - two opposing Bills!

I might need a small Single Malt, to sooth the nerves.

***

Here you go: a color version with the same edits and two more.

Thanks, Dan - loading up the colour versions is much appreciated.

Upon further consideration, I shall stick with liking the B&W best when contrasted to both the SOOC and the Post Production Colour versions.

For interests sake: I reckoned first off, that the B&W suited the photo best, because of the Self Portraits I have made using shop windows. So indeed, I came to an assumption with unconscious bias.

Colour seems to add another layer of 'confusion', where as B&W cuts to the meat of it.

Additionally I am not keen of the colour casts / colour cloud casts of blue through the hair - B&W sorts all that quickly.

WW

[Manfred M]

Dan - I agree with Bill on this one. The B&W works best for me because it simplifies an image that is quite complex and busy.

[billtils]

Each Bill has his own taste . For me there is a ghostliness in the image that the colour version renders better than the mono.

[DanK]

There's no arguing over taste.

Manfred described exactly my primary reason for going with B&W. I found the color detail, particularly the green and yellow horizontals, distracting.

A second reason is separation. The color version creates more separation between the person (me) and everything else. While I think that greater separation is a plus for the face, it is in my opinion a big minus otherwise. Having little separation between the background and me is part of what makes this work, I think.

An almost irrelevant digression about gear: I have gone through a slightly embarrassing number of Canon bodies since I went digital years ago: XTi, 50D, 5D III, 5D IV, and now R6 II, with a side purchase of a used 7D for greater pixel density (for bug macros). These were generally incremental improvements, although the difference in ergonomics between the Rebel XTi and the 50D was a fairly big change. However, the change from the 5D IV to the R6 II has been a big change, given what I shoot. If I did only landscapes, it wouldn't have been an improvement at all: a stop or so of extra DR in return for a sizable decrease in pixel count. But for what I shoot, the R6 II has a number of features that make a big difference. The most important for me is the amazing AF, which has greatly increased my success rate in doing candids of kids and has made that work much easier. In this case, it was a feature I use less frequently: the fully articulating LCD on the back. I used back button focus so that the shutter wouldn't change focus. I got the shot as I wanted while looking down at the LCD and then looked up before I pushed the shutter.

[escape]

I lean towards the B/W for the ghostly effect. Would it be possible to capture someone else's reflection so there is no camera in the image? I'm unsure about the angles, but it could make for an interesting series. Nice shot, Dank.

[DanK]

Daniel, thanks. In this case, I like having the camera there, but I take your point. It's hard to do other than straight on; it gives you a different view, and you get perspective issues as well. For window window shots, I use a tripod so that I at least get myself out of the photo. Perhaps one could use a tilt-shift lens to deal with perspective issues, but I don't have one and have never learned how to use them.

[DanK]

PS: Australian Bill--It's of course just a few seconds to remove the blue cast in the hair. After reading your post, I did that by using the hair to set WB, warming a tad more, and desaturating blues a bit. But that doesn't change my preference for B&W.

[William W]

Each Bill has his own taste .

. . . we may agree on which Single Malt, though.
Cheers for now.
WW